John Barsa | |
---|---|
Acting Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development | |
In office November 7, 2020 –January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Bonnie Glick |
Succeeded by | Paloma Adams-Allen |
Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development | |
In office April 13,2020 –November 6,2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Mark Andrew Green |
Succeeded by | Gloria Steele (acting) |
Personal details | |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Lisa Piraneo |
Children | 2 |
Education | Florida International University (BA) Syracuse University (GrDip) |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army |
John Barsa is an American businessman and consultant who formerly served as the United States Agency for International Development Acting Administrator in 2020. The White House requested that he assume the position of USAID Acting Deputy Administrator on November 7,2020,which effectively circumvented the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and would have required that he step down and leave the administrator's post vacant.
The son of a Cuban refugee,Barsa was born and raised in Miami,Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in international affairs from Florida International University and a graduate diploma from the Syracuse University National Security Management Fellows Program at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Barsa began his career in public service in the United States Army Reserve. He became an enlisted soldier in the 3rd Battalion of the 11th Special Forces Group,and later the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion.
Barsa served in the United States House of Representatives on U.S. Representative Lincoln Díaz-Balart's staff in the 1990s. During this period,he assisted Rep. Diaz-Balart with the passage of legislation such as the Adjustment and Central American Relief Act and the Helms-Burton Act. In 2011,as a Republican candidate he campaigned for the Virginia House of Delegates,but lost to incumbent Democrat Scott Surovell.
During the George W. Bush Administration,Barsa worked at NASA as a Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs. Once the Department of Homeland Security was established in 2002,Barsa was asked to create and lead the DHS Office of Public Liaison.
In 2017,Barsa became a member of Donald J. Trump's presidential transition team. He went on to serve within the Trump administration at DHS as an assistant to then DHS Director John F. Kelly and was subsequently asked to assume the Acting Assistant Secretary post in charge of the DHS Office of Partnership and Engagement. In 2019,President Trump nominated Barsa to serve as the United States Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. He was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. In this position Barsa strengthened USAID’s democracy efforts in Cuba,Venezuela,and Nicaragua and secured a formal memorandum of understanding on behalf of DHS Customs and Border Protection for information sharing intended to enhance USAID data driven decision making regarding development and the root causes of immigration from Central America. Barsa was then asked by the White House to become USAID Acting Administrator on April 13,2020,after the resignation of Mark Andrew Green. He led the agency through the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and was the first senior official to travel to Beirut,Lebanon to offer U.S. support after the devastating explosion in August 2020. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998,Barsa was required to step down after 210 days in office unless he was officially nominated for the position and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was not nominated for the role. Instead,on November 6,2020,after losing the election,President Trump fired Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick in order to allow Barsa to assume the position in an acting capacity.
Barsa resides in Virginia and has two adult daughters.
The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secretary is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States,and is fourteenth in the presidential line of succession.
The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security,the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11,2001.
Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart is a Cuban-American attorney and politician. He was the U.S. representative for Florida's 21st congressional district from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. He retired from Congress in 2011 and his younger brother,Mario Díaz-Balart,who had previously represented Florida's 25th congressional district,succeeded him. He is currently chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. After leaving Congress,he started a law practice and a consulting firm,both based in Miami,Florida.
Mark Andrew Green is an American politician and diplomat who is the president,director and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Before joining the Wilson Center on March 15,2021,he served as the executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership,and prior to that,as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1993 to 1999,was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007,representing Wisconsin's 8th congressional district,ran unsuccessfully for governor of Wisconsin in 2006,and held the post of United States Ambassador to Tanzania from August 2007 until January 2009. Green served as president of the International Republican Institute from 2014 to 2017 and sits on the board of directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart Caballero is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party,he was elected in 2002,and his district includes much of southwestern Miami-Dade County,including Hialeah,and much of the northern portion of the Everglades.
The Cuban–American lobby are various groups of Cuban exiles in the United States and their descendants who have historically influenced the United States' policy toward Cuba. In general usage,this refers to anti-Castro groups.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government,part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP),established by United States Congress on May 11,1976,with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.
Frank Almaguer is an American retired diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. He has served in numerous positions with the Peace Corps,the United States Agency for International Development,the U.S. Department of State and the Organization of American States.
Nilda Pedrosa was an American politician in the Republican party and the acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the United States Department of State,from September 28,2020,until a few days before her death in January 2021. She was formerly a policy advocate and the Assistant Dean for Development &External Affairs at Florida International University College of Law.
The under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere,or USC(OA),is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Commerce and the principal advisor to the United States secretary of commerce on the environmental and scientific activities of the department. The under secretary is dual hatted as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the Commerce Department.
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 is a United States federal statute establishing the procedure for filling vacancies in an appointed office of an executive agency of the government before the appointment of a permanent replacement.
Chad Fredrick Wolf is an American former government official and lobbyist who was named the acting United States secretary of homeland security in November 2019. His appointment was ruled unlawful in November 2020. Wolf was also the under secretary of homeland security for strategy,policy,and plans from 2019 to 2021.
African-Americans in foreign policy in the United States catalogs distinguished African Americans who have and continue to contribute to international development,diplomacy,and defense through their work with the U.S. Department of State,the U.S. Agency for International Development,the U.S. Information Agency,and the U.S. Congress,and other notable agencies and non-governmental organizations. The creators acknowledge the presence of the interagency contributions to the foreign affairs realm,and welcome additional content to showcase the achievements of African-Americans in other relevant USG agencies.
The administrator of the United States Agency for International Development is the head of the United States federal government's Agency for International Development (USAID).
Elaine Costanzo Duke is an American civil servant and former United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security,serving from April 10,2017 until April 15,2018. She became acting Secretary of Homeland Security on July 31,2017,when John F. Kelly assumed the office of White House Chief of Staff. She left the acting position on December 6,2017,upon the confirmation of Kirstjen Nielsen.
Kevin Kealoha McAleenan is an American attorney and government official who unlawfully served as the acting United States secretary of homeland security from April to November 2019.
Bonnie Glick is an American diplomat and businesswoman who served as the Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2019 to 2020. Nominated for the post by President Donald Trump in April 2018,she was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent in January 2019. On September 21,2021,Glick was announced as the inaugural CEO of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University during the Concordia Summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
Alina L. Romanowski is an American career diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Iraq since June 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Kuwait from February 2020 to April 2022.
Beginning in 2019,multiple appointments of acting officials in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were questioned,on the basis of whether the appointments were legal under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. After the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019,the Trump administration did not formally nominate a new secretary to be confirmed by the Senate,relying on acting postings.
The Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. During July 2010 the position's title was changed from Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.